What is the Meaning of Self-Acceptance?

Self-acceptance is exactly what its name suggests: The state of complete acceptance of oneself. True self-acceptance is embracing who you are, without any qualifications, conditions, or exceptions (Seltzer, 2008).

For an academic definition, lets’ consider Morgado and colleagues’ (2014) working definition:

“(Self-acceptance is) an individual’s acceptance of all of his/her attributes, positive or negative.”

This definition emphasizes the importance of accepting all facets of the self. It’s not enough to simply embrace the good, valuable, or positive about yourself; to embody true self-acceptance, you must also embrace the less desirable, the negative, and the ugly parts of yourself.

If you’re thinking that accepting all the negative aspects of yourself sounds difficult—you’re not wrong! It’s not easy to accept the things that we desperately want to change about ourselves; however counterintuitively—it is only by truly accepting ourselves that we can even begin the process of meaningful self-improvement.

In essence, we must first acknowledge that we have undesirable traits and habits before we start off on our journey to improvement.

Unconditional Self-Acceptance

To begin working on yourself, the first step is not just self-acceptance, but unconditional self-acceptance. It’s relatively easy to accept ourselves when we just did something great—won an award, fell in love, or started a fantastic new job—but accepting ourselves at our lowest and with our faults and flaws is the real mark of unconditional self-acceptance.

According to therapist Russell Grieger (2013), unconditional self-acceptance is understanding that you are separate from your actions and your qualities. You accept that you have made mistakes and that you have flaws, but you do not let them define you.

“You accept that, as a fallible human being, you are less than perfect. You will often perform well, but you will also err at times… You always and unconditionally accept yourself without judgment”

(Grieger, 2013).

When you practice unconditional self-acceptance, you can begin to love yourself, embrace your authentic self, and work on improving your less-than-desirable traits and qualities.

At Suresteps Wellbeing Services we deliver Self-Acceptance Programs on a weekly basis based on a three-monthly cycle. The program covers:

· Unconditional Self-Acceptance

· Unconditional Self-Acceptance and Education

· Unconditional Self-Acceptance and Relationships

· Unconditional Self-Acceptance and the Workplace

· Unconditional Self-Acceptance and Body Image

· Unconditional Self-Acceptance and mental Health

To take part in this program, register by using contact us on our home page